More than 200 trucks arrived at Lakes Entrance in Victoria on March 3 for the East Gippsland Convoy for Kids.
Despite the morning fog and cool weather, around 60 trucks gathered at Traralgon for a 7:30am start, on March 3 for the East Gippsland Convoy for Kids. The convoy began the journey to Lakes Entrance, marking the start of the third quadrennial East Gippsland event.
The day was an overwhelming success, supporting Camp Quality and Angel Flight, two very worthy charities, both of which work to help kids impacted by cancer and their families.
As the trucks rolled down the Princes Highway, more trucks joined in the procession. With another convoy arriving from Orbost, nearly 200 rigs descended on Lakes Entrance.
The large number of trucks made a spectacular site for people who had stopped on the side of the road to watch the heavy vehicles roll by.
When the convoy arrived it was greeted by a crowd of several hundred people, including kids who signalled frantically for drivers to sound their horns. Most were happy to oblige.
The journey into the Greater Lakes Air Field was rather slow but it gave onlookers the opportunity to get a closer look at the wide variety of rigs on show. However, organisers did an amazing job of getting the 215 trucks parked quickly and efficiently.
With the large array of trucks, it would be easy to forget why they were here, but all were enthusiastic about helping out the kids. At the end of the day, the event raised more than $70,000 to be distributed between Camp Quality and Angel Flight.
The next East Gippsland Convoy for Kids is due in 2022, which may seem a long way off. However James Dixon, one of the event organisers, explains that the time commitment to organise such an event is huge and believes that every four years also makes the drivers think if they miss the next one it will be a gap of eight years before they get a chance to do it all again.
For more on the East Gippsland Convoy for Kids see the April 2018 edition of Owner//Driver.
Video: David McKenzie